The nuclear factor-κB (NFκB) family of transcription factors has been implicated in inflammatory disorders, viral infections, and cancer. Most of the drugs that inhibit NFκB show significant side effects, possibly due to sustained NFκB suppression. Drugs affecting induced, but not basal, NFκB activity may have the potential to provide therapeutic benefit without associated toxicity. NFκB activation by stress-inducible cell cycle inhibitor p21 was shown to be mediated by a p21-stimulated transcription-regulating kinase CDK8. CDK8 and its paralog CDK19, associated with the transcriptional Mediator complex, act as coregulators of several transcription factors implicated in cancer; CDK8/19 inhibitors are entering clinical development. Here we show that CDK8/19 inhibition by different small-molecule kinase inhibitors or shRNAs suppresses the elongation of NFκB-induced transcription when such transcription is activated by p21-independent canonical inducers, such as TNFα. On NFκB activation, CDK8/19 are corecruited with NFκB to the promoters of the responsive genes. Inhibition of CDK8/19 kinase activity suppresses the RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain phosphorylation required for transcriptional elongation, in a gene-specific manner. Genes coregulated by CDK8/19 and NFκB includeIL8,CXCL1, andCXCL2, which encode tumor-promoting proinflammatory cytokines. Although it suppressed newly induced NFκB-driven transcription, CDK8/19 inhibition in most cases had no effect on the basal expression of NFκB-regulated genes or promoters; the same selective regulation of newly induced transcription was observed with other transcription signals potentiated by CDK8/19. This selective role of CDK8/19 identifies these kinases as mediators of transcriptional reprogramming, a key aspect of development and differentiation as well as pathological processes.

Neurons and glia share a mutual dependence in establishing a functional relationship, and none is more evident than the process by which axons control myelination. Here, we identify LRR and Ig domain-containing, Nogo receptor-interacting protein (LINGO-1) as a potent axonal inhibitor of oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination that is regulated by nerve growth factor and its cognate receptor TrkA in a dose-dependent manner. Whereas LINGO-1 expressed by oligodendrocyte progenitor cells was previously identified as an inhibitor of differentiation, we demonstrate that axonal expression of LINGO-1 inhibits differentiation with equal potency. Disruption of LINGO-1 on either cell type is sufficient to overcome the inhibitory action and promote differentiation and myelination, independent of axon diameter. Furthermore, these results were recapitulated in transgenic mice overexpressing the full length LINGO-1 under the neuronal promoter synapsin. Myelination was greatly inhibited in the presence of enforced axonal LINGO-1. The implications of these results relate specifically to the development of potential therapeutics targeting extrinsic growth factors that may regulate the axonal expression of modulators of oligodendrocyte development.

NG2 cells (polydendrocytes) comprise an abundant glial population that is widely and uniformly distributed throughout the developing and mature CNS and are identified by the expression of the NG2 proteoglycan at the cell surface. Although recent electrophysiological studies suggest that they are capable of receiving signals from axon terminals, other studies, based on the finding that the NG2 molecule itself induces growth cone collapse, have led to a widely held speculation that NG2 cells themselves also repel and inhibit growing axons. In this study, we have examined the effects of rat NG2 cells on growing hippocampal and neocortical axons in vitro and in vivo. NG2 cells did not repel growing axons but promoted their growth in vitro, and axonal growth cones formed extensive contacts with NG2 cells both in vitro and in the developing corpus callosum. Punctate immunoreactivity for fibronectin and laminin was found to be colocalized with NG2 on the surface of NG2 cells. Altering the level of cell surface NG2 expression had no effect on the growth-promoting effects of NG2 cells on growing axons. Thus, our study indicates that NG2 cells are not inhibitory to growing axons but provide an adhesive substrate for axonal growth cones and promote their growth even in the presence of elevated levels of the NG2 proteoglycan. These findings suggest a novel role for NG2 cells in facilitating axonal growth during development and regeneration.

DNA damage triggers complex cellular responses in eukaryotic cells, including initiation of DNA repair and activation of cell cycle checkpoints. In addition to inducing cell cycle arrest, checkpoint also has been suggested to modulate a variety of other cellular processes in response to DNA damage. In this study, we present evidence showing that the cellular function of xeroderma pigmentosum group A (XPA), a major nucleotide excision repair (NER) factor, could be modulated by checkpoint kinase ataxia-telangiectasia mutated and Rad3-related (ATR) in response to UV irradiation. We observed the apparent interaction and colocalization of XPA with ATR in response to UV irradiation. We showed that XPA was a substrate for in vitro phosphorylation by phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase-related kinase family kinases whereas in cells XPA was phosphorylated in an ATR-dependent manner and stimulated by UV irradiation. The Ser196 of XPA was identified as a biologically significant residue to be phosphorylated in vivo. The XPA-deficient cells complemented with XPA-S196A mutant, in which Ser196 was substituted with an alanine, displayed significantly higher UV sensitivity compared with the XPA cells complemented with wild-type XPA. Moreover, substitution of Ser196 with aspartic acid for mimicking the phosphorylation of XPA increased the cell survival to UV irradiation. Taken together, our results revealed a potential physical and functional link between NER and the ATRdependent checkpoint pathway in human cells and suggested that the ATR checkpoint pathway could modulate the cellular activity of NER through phosphorylation

Classic studies recognize two functionally segregated macroglial cell types in the central nervous system (CNS), namely astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. A third macroglial cell type has now been identified by its specific expression of the NG2 chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan (NG2-glia). These NG2-glia exist abundantly in both grey and white matter of the mature CNS and are almost as numerous as astrocytes. It is well established that NG2-glia give rise to oligodendrocytes. However, the majority of NG2-glia in the adult CNS proliferate very slowly and are nonmotile. Both astrocytes and NG2-glia display a stellate morphology and express ion channels and receptors to neurotransmitters used by neurons. Both types of glia make intimate contacts with neurons in grey and white matter, and their functional differences and similarities are only beginning to be unravelled. Recent observations emphasize the need to examine the relationship between astrocytes and NG2-glia, and address the question of whether they represent overlapping or two distinct glial cell populations. To be of any relevance, this classification must relate to specific functions in the neural network. At present, the balance of evidence is that NG2-glia and astrocytes are functionally segregated populations.